Los Angeles YIMBYS Plot An Apartment-Building Boom

When California Governor Gavin Newsom signed State Bill 79 into law on Oct. 10, supporters of the pro-housing “Yes In My Backyard” movement celebrated a legislative victory that had been called a YIMBY “holy grail.” By legalizing multistory apartments near transit stops in the state’s most urbanized counties — and crucially, in areas formerly zoned for single-family homes — SB 79 was hailed as a huge step toward closing California’s longstanding affordable housing gap.

Along with recent reform of the state’s infamous project-delaying environmental review law, CEQA, SB 79 boosters like the advocacy group California YIMBY ...